Helix 2×9 Review: Ectogenesis

This was the week that Helix finally went over the damn top. We got more flashback characters (hey, Doreen!), infected cannibals, bleeding trees, and immortal babies out of utero. Every Friday, Helix has become the thing that I look forward to most, but “Ectogenesis” just did not do it for me. We finally entered into the territory of so much “WTF?” that it is becoming almost uncomfortable to watch.

Perhaps the most disturbing parts for me in “Ectogenesis” were the introduction and interactions of the “forest people”: those who are infected with mycotic outside of the abbey walls. They have gross, bloody teeth, eat people, and inexplicably have British accents. Unfortunately, our friend Kyle gets tricked by Soren (the boy who survived mycotic inside the abbey), and ends up a prisoner–and possibly dinner–of these forest people. I don’t understand the addition of these characters AT ALL, other than they are means to an end to learn about the “bleeding tree”–the apparent cure for mycotic. It felt like we had taken a trip into Princess Bride territory with weird characters who serve no purpose. I am REALLY hoping that the forest people end up being more crucial to the overall plot, otherwise I do not like this strange turn of events.

We were treated, however, to Julia catching up to the present-day timeline on St. Germaine. After not hearing from Peter for days (because he was in the oubliette), Sergio and Julia show up to the island and pitch their genocide-alternative plans to Anne and Peter. According to our old friends, Ilaria is planning on releasing Narvik C into the world in four days (the season finale by the way), thus killing off approximately five billion people. Julia still wants to be the hero by slowing Ilaria’s plan of killing, and instead using Michael’s infertility orchard. After some buffering from Peter, Anne actually goes along with it, but when they decide to visit Mother (the parent root for the orchard), it’s gone! This definitely throws a wrench in Julia’s plans. I have no idea who might have Mother and what their overall intentions might be.

In evil villain news, Amy continued her blackmail of Sarah, promising to give the fetus back to Sarah if she makes Amy immortal. After finally agreeing to her terms, Sarah has Amy collect spinal fluid for injection. But Sarah has nefarious tricks up her sleeve. Prior to the procedure, Sarah sneaks into Michael’s lab and concocts a poison to inject into Amy. I have to give it to Amy–she is smart. She rightly guesses that Sarah has contaminated the sample, so Landry volunteers to “test” the injection prior to Amy to ensure its safety. Things do not go as planned. Landry doesn’t die, and instead has some sort of creepy seizure that will leave him in a state that we will have to wait to learn about next week, but I suspect it will be a lot like Quasimodo.

In the end, Kyle drank the honey to get away from/not get eaten by the forest people, so he has mycotic now (sad face). Please Show, do not kill off Kyle. He is the best character, simply for the fact that he does not want to put up with any of the weird stuff and is trying to do right by everyone. We were also treated to more Peter being only on Team Peter. I am interested to find out why he asked for $100 million when he could instead ask for immortality, but I guess he only wants to live one lifetime in Alan’s shadow.

I am interested to see what everyone thought of the forest people and all of the other developments this week. And can we talk about the music choices this week? Please leave your comments below!

Author: Erin

Erin has reviewed many shows over the years including Orphan Black, iZombie, Penny Dreadful, and Killing Eve. She has a keen eye for on-screen chemistry, and loves to tackle the subject of casting. She is also our horror aficionado. She live tweets shows, and loves to share her feelings. Erin has a BA in History, and likes to analyze the lore behind historical fiction. She attends San Diego Comic Con every year and has also attended C2E2 and WonderCon.